Should We Really Be Slowing Down?

One of the most popular wellness tips these days is to slow down. Stop the frantic running around, work fewer hours, and be present. Those are certainly all good things. It’s good to simplify life and focus on the things that matter.

I lead a pretty busy life. People often ask me, “how do you do it all?” Then I think about slowing down. Maybe asking for a shorter work week and spending more time relaxing.

The thing is, I already get a fair amount of downtime. I have time to read in bed most evenings, and I often fall asleep before 10 p.m. My weekends are free, and I try to stick to my digital sabbath most Sundays.

I Can’t Slow Down

In fact, I don’t think I can slow down, because there are simply too many changes needed in this country and in the world. Too much to do.

Minimum wage in the U.S. is $7.25 per hour—has not changed in four years. (In France it’s $12.22, but I suppose they need the extra money since they only work 35 hours per week. (Use this calculator to see if you can figure out how to live on minimum wage.)

The U.S. is ranked 37th in the World Health Organization’s ranking of the world’s health systems. Yet we spend more than any other country on health care ($2.6 trillion in 2010). Btw, top-ranked France spent about half or US$4,086 per capita on health care in 2011.

We live in a corporatocracy where for-profit corporations dictate how our elected representatives will vote through lobbying and campaign contributions (and probably a decent amount of bullying).

And this list doesn’t even include counterproductive farm subsidies, one in eight humans starving, unnecessary wars, domestic violence, massive greenhouse gas emissions, thousands of species going extinct each year, frac sand mining, Islamophobia, discrimination, or the crippling consumer debt (overall credit card debt is $854.2 billion). There is so much to do!

We Need to Speed Up

In 2012, the average American spent 2.8 hours watching TV each day. (Some sources report even higher numbers.) Talk about slowing down! Our conformist education system coupled with massive amounts of media consumption and psychotropic over-medication has made many of us passive citizens incapable of mustering up the anger or courage or energy to stand up against social injustice and systemic inefficiencies. It’s easier to watch TV and go on a cruise and escape reality. And that’s how the leaders of Corporate America like it.

A genuinely democratic society needs people who are connected to one another, who respect and have confidence in themselves and others, who know themselves, who actively experience life and gain wisdom from it, who can think critically, and who can reject exploitative manipulations. Television watching creates pretty much the opposite kind of people from those who can make genuine democracy work. ~Bruce E. Levine

Guys, I don’t think we can slow down. Well actually, I think we can slow down in certain areas. We can stop over-scheduling our lives with meaningless or non-essential activities. We can stop shopping for fun. We can slow our minds down to participate in life. But we cannot slow down when it comes to fighting for change. We need to speed up. Time is of the essence. Pick your favorite area and go for it. Perhaps its progressive education. Or sustainability. Maybe you want to fight for a livable wage. Whatever it is, speed up. Because there’s a lot to do, and we’re not getting any younger.

P.S. This post was inspired by Get Up, Stand Up by Bruce E. Levine and a long-term research study I heard of a couple of years ago that indicated that people who work hard and are passionate about what they do live the longest, happiest lives.

Tanya, thanks for your note. This year has been an interesting combination of turning 40 and really having my eyes opened to the fundamental societal issues that are causing so many kids to feel bad. And I want to do something about it!

Slow down is definitely not sit idle. Removing the meaningless activities creates space so you can lie in bed and read at night. There is also a mental threshold that we set for how much we can take on. We can increase the threshold and still be relaxed even in the midst of activity. We are capable of so much more if we don’t get distracted. Enjoyed this post.